Chapter Overview
Summary
Psalm 139 (MT) / Psalm 138 (LXX) is the Psalter's great SEARCHING-AND-KNOWING psalm — a Davidic meditation on divine-omniscience (vv. 1–6), divine-omnipresence (vv. 7–12), divine-formation-in-the-womb (vv. 13–16), and divine-search (vv. 17–24). It is one of the Psalter's most-quoted chapters for personal-devotion, providing signature texts: 'where shall I go from your Spirit? where shall I flee from your presence?' (v. 7), 'you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb' (v. 13), 'I am fearfully and wonderfully made' (v. 14), 'search me, O God, and know my heart' (v. 23). The psalm grounds both divine-attribute theology and human-life-from-the-womb anthropology.
Notable Variants
139:1–6 divine-omniscience; 139:7–12 divine-omnipresence; 139:13–16 womb-formation (classic pro-life text); 139:17–24 divine-search and the imprecatory-turn; 139:16 'your book' / substance-unformed seen-by-God.
Structural Notes
MT Ps 139 = LXX Ps 138. 24 verses.
For the music director. Of David. A psalm. LORD, You have searched me and You know me.
'O LORD, you have searched me and known me!' tracks MT. The SEARCHED-AND-KNOWN opening. Divine-knowledge vocabulary — 1 Corinthians 8:3 ('but if anyone loves God, he IS KNOWN BY GOD') extends. Jeremiah 17:10 ('I the LORD search the heart and test the mind') parallels.
You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from far away.
'You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar' tracks MT.
You sift my traveling and my resting; You are familiar with all my ways.
'You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways' tracks MT.
Before a word is on my tongue, LORD, You know it completely.
'Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether' tracks MT. PRE-SPOKEN-WORD divine-knowledge. Matthew 6:8 ('your Father knows what you need before you ask him') extends.
Behind and before, You hem me in; You lay Your hand upon me.
'You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me' tracks MT. HEMMED-IN divine-presence.
Such knowledge is too wondrous for me — too high; I cannot reach it.
'Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it' tracks MT. DIVINE-KNOWLEDGE exceeds-comprehension. Romans 11:33 ('O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!') extends.
Where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence?
'Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?' tracks MT. THE OMNIPRESENCE section begins. Jonah 1:3 (attempting to flee FROM THE PRESENCE of the LORD) embodies the impossibility.
If I ascend to heaven, You are there. If I make my bed in Sheol — there You are.
'If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!' tracks MT. HEAVEN-AND-SHEOL divine-presence. Romans 8:38–39 ('neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor HEIGHT NOR DEPTH … will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus') Christologically extends.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle at the far end of the sea —
'If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea' tracks MT. WINGS-OF-THE-MORNING imagery — dawn-spreading-east-to-west.
even there Your hand would guide me, and Your right hand would hold me.
'Even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me' tracks MT.
If I say, "Surely darkness will overwhelm me, and the light around me will become night" —
'If I say: Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night' tracks MT.
even darkness is not dark to You. The night shines like the day; darkness and light are the same to You.
'Even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you' tracks MT. DARKNESS-NOT-DARK-TO-YOU. 1 John 1:5 ('God is light, and in him is no darkness at all') extends.
For You created my inmost parts; You wove me together in my mother's womb.
'For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb' tracks MT. WOMB-KNITTING theology. Jeremiah 1:5 ('before I formed you in the womb I knew you') and Galatians 1:15 ('he who had set me apart before I was born') share the pre-natal divine-formation. This verse is central to biblical pro-life anthropology.
I thank You, for I am awesomely, wondrously made. Your works are wondrous, and my soul knows it well.
'I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well' tracks MT. 'FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE' — the most-quoted human-worth verse.
My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, embroidered in the depths of the earth.
'My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth' tracks MT. INTRICATELY-WOVEN — embryo-as-weaving imagery. Job 10:11 ('you clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews') parallels.
Your eyes saw my unformed body. In Your book they were all written — the days that were shaped for me when not one of them yet existed.
'Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them' tracks MT. GOD'S-BOOK (biblion sou) containing pre-formed-days. The divine-foreknowledge of each-day. Pre-destination theology. Revelation's book-of-life (3:5, 13:8, 17:8, 20:12, 20:15, 21:27, 22:19) extends.
How precious to me are Your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them!
'How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!' tracks MT. DIVINE-THOUGHTS precious.
If I tried to count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.
'If I would count them, they are more than the sand. I awake, and I am still with you' tracks MT. MORE-THAN-SAND thought-count.
If only You would slay the wicked, God! You men of bloodshed — get away from me!
'Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God! O men of blood, depart from me!' tracks MT. THE IMPRECATORY-TURN (vv. 19–22) — unexpected shift within a contemplative-psalm.
They speak of You with wicked intent; Your enemies use Your name for falsehood.
'They speak against you with malicious intent; your enemies take your name in vain' tracks MT.
Do I not hate those who hate You, LORD? Do I not loathe those who rise against You?
'Do I not hate those who hate you, O LORD? And do I not loathe those who rise up against you?' tracks MT. 'PERFECT-HATRED' (tachlit sin'ah / teleion misos) of God's enemies — a Psalter-ethic requiring Christological-reconfiguration through Matt 5:44 ('love your enemies').
With complete hatred I hate them; they have become my own enemies.
'I hate them with complete hatred; I count them my enemies' tracks MT.
Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
'Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!' tracks MT. SEARCH-ME opening formula (parallels v. 1's 'you have searched me'). Paul's 1 Corinthians 4:4–5 ('I am not aware of anything against myself … it is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will BRING TO LIGHT THE THINGS NOW HIDDEN IN DARKNESS and will DISCLOSE THE PURPOSES OF THE HEART') extends the divine-heart-searcher theology.
See if there is any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the way that lasts forever.
'And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!' tracks MT. WAY-EVERLASTING (derekh-olam / hodō aiōniō). The eternal-life path. John 6:68 ('you have the words of eternal life') Christologically extends.